n phonology, syncope (/skpi/; Greek: syn- + koptein "to strike, cut off") is the loss of one

or more sounds from the interior of a word, especially the loss of an unstressed vowel. It is
found both in synchronic analysis of languages and diachronics. Its opposite, whereby sounds
are added, is epenthesis.

Contents

1 Synchronic analysis

2 In inflections

3 As a poetic device

4 In informal speech

5 Found diachronically as a historical sound change

o 5.1 Loss of any sound
o 5.2 Loss of an unstressed vowel

6 See also

7 References

Synchronic analysis
Synchronic analysis studies linguistic phenomena at one moment, usually the present. In
modern languages, syncope occurs in inflection, poetry, and informal speech.

In inflections
In languages such as Irish, the process of inflection can precipitate syncope.
For example :

In some verbs
Imir (To play) should become *"imirm" (I play). However the addition of the "-m"
causes syncope and the second last syllable vowel "i" is lost. So, Imir becomes Imrm.

In some nouns
Inis (Island) should become *inise in the genitive case. However, if one looks at road
signs one finds not *"Baile na hInise", but "Baile na hInse" (The town of the Island).
Once again the loss is of the second syllable "i".

It is interesting that if the present root form in Irish is the result of diachronic syncope then
there is a resistance to synchronic syncope for inflection.

As a poetic device
Sounds may be removed from the interior of a word as a rhetorical or poetic device, whether
for embellishment or for the sake of the meter.

Latin commo[ve]rat > poetic commorat ("he had moved")

English hast[e]ning > poetic hast'ning

English heav[e]n > poetic heav'n

English over > poetic o'er

English never > poetic ne'er

In informal speech
Various sorts of colloquial reductions might be called "syncope". It is also called
compression.[1]
Forms such as "didn't" that are written with an apostrophe are, however, generally called
contractions:

English [Au]stra[lia]n > colloquial Strine

English did n[o]t > di[d]n't

English I [woul]d [ha]ve > I'd've

Found diachronically as a historical sound change

In historical phonetics, the term "syncope" is often but not always limited to the loss of an
unstressed vowel:

Loss of any sound

Old English hlfweard > hlford > Middle English loverd > English lord

English Worcester, pronounced /wstr/

English Gloucester, pronounced /lstr/

English Leicester, pronounced /lestr/

Loss of an unstressed vowel

Latin cl[i]dum > Italian caldo "hot"

Latin c[u]lum > Italian occhio "eye"